Film: Flawless
Director: Michael Radford
Studio: Pierce/ Williams Entertainment
Principle Actors: Michael Caine, Demi Moore, Lambert Wilson, Nathaniel Parker and Shaughen Seymour
Length of Feature: 108 minutes
Release Date: 11 of February 2007 (Germany), 28 of March 2008 (USA)
Rating: PG for brief strong language.  

Reviewed by: Jennifer Chang (Vancouver Correspondent - Canada) 

Movies about daring, honking-big robberies appear to be a popular genre that is skyrocketing. We are halfway into 2008 and we already have Mad Money, about a group of women who subvert the impressive security of a Federal Reserve Bank, and The Bank Job, about a gang of minor crooks hoodwinked into a London bank-vault heist, and also Flawless now on DVD. What is charming about this film is its retro set, which keeps the robbery crisp and simple. But if you are expecting a high-tech, complicated heist like the Ocean's series, trust me, you won't find it here.

The film opens up with the camera focusing on women in various position of power, most of them handling some kind of business, occupied with high-tech PDAs and mobile phones. The camera stops on one woman, a writer for a magazine who is doing a piece on "Women Who Led." She enters a restaurant to interview Laura Quinn (Demi Moore), the only woman to ever have been a manager at the London Diamond Corporation during the late 50's into 60's.  

The set flashes back to London in 1960s in the London Diamond Corporation, one of the world's primary diamond holders, where Quinn is employed as the only female executive in a male dominated workspace. Quinn is all business, brainy and canny. She is known to be the "first one in, last one out", yet she has been ignored for various promotions due to her gender. Mr. Hobbs (Michael Caine) has been a night janitor at London Diamond Corporation for over 16 years, and amasses a startling amount of knowledge about how the company runs. Hobbs wants a carefree retirement and Quinn's career is at stake, together they piece a remarkable, "flawless" heist.

The picture is fairly entertaining, aided strongly by the vintage period and Caine's reliable performance. Caine has always been a convincing and charming actor to watch, his character as a subtle and sly old janitor is the best aspect of the film. It is gripping to see as he stumbles his way into the diamond vault. Moore, on the other hand, is not so persuasive. This is Moore's first starring role in a decade, yet this film does not offer much, as her character does not meet up to her celebrity stardom. She seems actorly in the film and fails to portray the harsh inner struggle that a woman in her position would face. Sexism and classicism are both serious issues, but Moore appears to be too robotic at times, leaving a flaw in the picture. Overall, this movie is pleasant as it is always enjoyable to watch the ugly economics behind pretty things. Not bad, for a Wednesday movie night.